Third,
forget the Judiciary, of either the States or the General Government.
Even if no judges could be condemned as political hacks, puppets of
special interests, and poltroons, the courts would nonetheless remain
slow, uncertain, and (worst of all) adventitious in their decisions.
For the issues they address depend entirely on the cases that happen
to come before them. And most of the matters critical to America’s
future—such as the unconstitutionality of military misadventures in
the Middle East—even honest and competent judges will likely consider
too controversial to tackle, but instead will shunt off into the legalistic
never-never land of “political questions.”

And
reliance on the legal profession? Heaven forfend! America is today
treading water in History’s septic tank largely because her lawyers
have been trained to drive on both sides of the legal street, depending
on who is paying the fare. Of course, some lawyers are ideologically
opposed in principle to limited government, and enter public service
in order to expand its powers. But what about all the others who are
not committed subversives? If large numbers of lawyers in public service—each
of whom had sworn to uphold the Constitution as a prerequisite to
becoming a member of the Bar in his home State—had simply said “NO!”
to politicians’ demands to draft, enact, and enforce such police-state
measures as the Patriot and Military Commissions Acts, and done so
volubly in public, with resignations from office, remonstrances from
their Bar Associations, and all the other publicity that modern communications
can make so effective, would America be suffering from these problems
now?

So
what does all this leave as America’s best, perhaps last, resource?
The only solution is the constitutional check and balance provided
by—and that can be provided only by—We the People themselves, through
“the Militia of the several States.”

But,
today, We the People have neither “the Militia of the several States”
nor a fully constitutional Militia in even a single State. Instead,
We the People must have recourse to nothing but protests against their
public servants’ excesses. True, these are not always bootless—as
the popular uprising against the recent bill for providing illegal
aliens with amnesty under another name has proven. (Although the proponents
of the bill promise to keep on trying, until they wear the country
out.) Nevertheless, there being no single lobbying group or federation
of such groups that can call out an overwhelming national constituency
through the full range of critical constitutional questions, such
protests must suffer from the inefficiency of having to mobilize,
organize, and energize people anew on each separate issue.

And
even when properly organized, ad hoc protests—or the efforts of actual
lobbying groups—enjoy no specific legal authority, other than the
general right in the First Amendment to “the freedom of speech” and
“the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.” Which prove less than useful
when public officials pay no attention to—or penalize—the protestors.

Distinguishably,
“the Militia of the several States” wield not just legal, but constitutional,
authority. They are the only establishments the Constitution describes
as “necessary to the security of a free State.” They are the only
establishments the Constitution explicitly authorizes “to execute
the Laws of the Union.” They are not dependent upon public officials,
politicians, political parties, special-interest groups, or the big
media—because the Constitution recognizes them as permanent establishments
within its federal system. And they are politically and socially unifying
forces, because they draw from the entire community—thereby negating
the tactic of “divide and conquer” on which the Forces of Darkness
primarily rely.

We
the People are this country’s earthly sovereigns, the source of the
Constitution. We the People are this country’s electors, deciding
who shall administer the Constitution in the People’s interests in
the State governments, Congress, the Presidency, and (indirectly)
the Supreme Court. But, to make sovereignty and voting truly effective
at all times, We the People must also be this country’s ultimate check
and balance on public officials who, between elections, refuse to
follow the Constitution.

If
“the Militia of the several States” existed in their proper constitutional
form, exercising their proper constitutional powers, most if not all
of the fears catalogued at the beginning of this commentary would
not be plaguing Americans today. For, in their regular meetings, Militia
companies across the country would have investigated what has been
going on, what is at stake, who is at fault, and what they should
do with respect to all of these matters—each of which is an aspect
of “homeland security,” and therefore within the purview of the Militia.

No
one should assume that the Militia would resort to violence. Even
when fully justifiable, violence is always expensive, typically unpredictable,
and usually undesirable—because when violence begins, reason ends;
and then anything can happen, and often does. Even in self-defense,
personal or political, violence is always the very last resort, to
be relied upon only when all else fails. Therefore, for anyone to
advocate, condone, or even suggest violence by the Militia would be
counterproductive and even puerile.

With
respect to remedying the problems cited heretofore, it would also
be contraindicated. Sufficient for such situations would be simply
a nationwide Militia remonstrance to rogue public officials in the
General Government, informing them that: (i) the course they were
pursuing was wrong and dangerous; (ii) in those circumstances they
ought to take certain actions and refrain from taking certain others;
and (iii) if they refused or failed to heed this advice, immediate
consequences (not just consequences at the next election) would follow.
Then, if the politicians remained obtuse, obstinate, and obdurate,
the Militia would call a day, a week, or more of “Down tools!” No
one in the Militia, or in Militiamen’s families, would go to work
or perform any other than absolutely necessary humanitarian services
(such as medical care, fire-fighting, feeding the homeless, and so
on). Inasmuch as tens and tens of millions of adult Americans would
be involved, the country would grind to a screeching halt. And not
only in private enterprise, either, but also in the public service—for
most individuals in public employment, even though exempted from regular
Militia duties, would nevertheless remain members of the Militia,
or find themselves within some Militiaman’s family, and if not subject
to Militia discipline then confronted with the sanction of ostracism
by their family members, friends, and neighbors.

If
this would not bring rogue public officials and bureaucrats to their
senses, and if not to their senses then to their knees, in record
time—and nonviolently, too—what would? How could the miscreants stop
it? How could they get around it?

Moreover,
just the possibility of such actions would deter rogue public officials
from setting out on legally questionable courses in the first instance.
For they would not want their possibly unconstitutional adventures
immediately and effectively challenged before the Nation as a whole.

Perhaps
most importantly, such Militia remonstrances would not be acts of
civil disobedience, but of constitutional obedience. They would be
examples of the Militia’s taking responsibility to “execute the Laws
of the Union” against rogue public officials. Without violence or
the threat of violence, yet with irresistible effect.

Unfortunately,
however, this country does not enjoy the benefits “the Militia of
the several States” could provide. Which raises the question: What
more does it take than for the Constitution itself to tell Americans
that “[a] well regulated Militia” is “necessary to the security of
a free State”? Not optional, but “necessary!”

An
old saw has it that there are three types of minds: Best are those
that understand some matter all by themselves. Adequate are those
that understand the matter when it is explained to them. And useless
are those that never understand the matter, even after it has been
spelled out for them over and over again.

Obviously,
few Americans fall into category one, at least as to “the Militia
of the United States”—or else these commentaries of mine, let alone
my book Constitutional “Homeland Security,” would not be necessary.
The question now is, how many fall into category two? I expect that
there are millions and millions of them—certainly enough to do the
job. But to prove my point—and, more to the point, to help save this
country—I need assistance in two areas: (i) funding my work on the
Militia, and (ii) spreading the word.

1.
Unfortunately, I do not set the schedule for the Forces of Darkness.
Apparently, they have projected 2009 as the year in which the first
foundations of the North American Union will be poured. One can also
anticipate that the Presidential Administration to be inaugurated
in January of that year will quickly prove to be the worst in American
history (up till then). So I need to finish two more projected books
on the Militia, and to draft comprehensive model legislation for at
least one State, before that fateful month.

Work
of this criticality and complexity cannot be done as a sideline or
hobby. Which means putting in more effort than I can possibly afford
without outside support. For that reason, I need to find a group of
(say) ten or more well-to-do patriotic patrons, each of whom can contribute
what will be personally a small sum for him, but which collectively
will provide a substantial amount to subsidize my work and help to
see it through to completion.

Other
than winning some lottery, I have no viable alternative. No patriotic
endeavor of this kind is ever likely to break even, let alone become
a paying proposition. This is because patriotic work is what economists
call a “collective good”: when one person produces it, others can
reap the benefits without paying the cost of production. Because of
these “free riders”, “collective goods” tend to be underproduced,
even though they may be very valuable. For example, whoever writes
the first model statute to revitalize the Militia in some State will
obtain no monetary benefit from his effort, even though it will surely
prove a very difficult job to do correctly, because State legislatures
do not buy model statutes. And once a model statute for one State
has been published, anyone else can adapt it or its ideas for any
and every other State. So who but an independently wealthy public
benefactor will take on the task?

The
Forces of Darkness count on this difficulty to advance their agenda.
Their political, economic, and social imperialism is designed to earn
huge monopoly profits for specific individuals and groups—so they
will expend whatever moneys may be necessary to succeed, up to the
amounts of the anticipated profits. Whereas most patriotic endeavors
can be expected to earn little to no profits—and if they are successful
at all may help to produce only the general benefits that come to
everyone of good will, in different degrees, from living in a free
society. Therefore, without subsidies, patriotic work will likely
not be done to any significant degree, to a sufficient degree, or
in a timely fashion.

My
fear, and what should be your fear too, is that, if revitalizing “the
Militia of the several States” is not accomplished—to the full extent
mandated by the Constitution and within the timetable the Forces of
Darkness seem to be setting—then America will surely suffer some or
all of the horrific scenarios that the prophets of doom are predicting.
I have a way, not only to overcome that fear, but also to remove its
source. But I need your help, or the help of someone you know. So
please contact me—by mail only at 13877 Napa Drive, Manassas, Virginia
20112.

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2.
Even the best model statute for revitalizing the Militia in some State
will not succeed without grass-roots pressure on legislators. And
that will require massive public education and mobilization. The Internet
can supply the means, if its leading spokesmen for patriotism—outside
of News With Views—will speak up in favor of revitalizing the Militia,
as some of them are already doing. Encourage them to republish or
link to my commentaries. Even better, encourage them to recruit others
who can write effectively on the subject, to publish their work, and
to spread the message into every corner of the electronic universe.
To fuel the issue to such white heat that it cannot be ignored.

What
do you have to lose—other than your country if you do nothing? For
part one click below.

Edwin Vieira, Jr., holds four degrees from Harvard:
A.B. (Harvard College), A.M. and Ph.D. (Harvard Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences), and J.D. (Harvard Law School).

For more than thirty years he has
practiced law, with emphasis on constitutional issues. In the Supreme
Court of the United States he successfully argued or briefed the cases
leading to the landmark decisions Abood v. Detroit Board of Education,
Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, and Communications Workers of America
v. Beck, which established constitutional and statutory limitations on
the uses to which labor unions, in both the private and the public sectors,
may apply fees extracted from nonunion workers as a condition of their
employment.

He has written numerous monographs
and articles in scholarly journals, and lectured throughout the county.
His most recent work on money and banking is the two-volume Pieces
of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States
Constitution (2002), the most comprehensive study in existence of American
monetary law and history viewed from a constitutional perspective. www.piecesofeight.us

He is also the co-author (under
a nom de plume) of the political novel CRA$HMAKER:
A Federal Affaire (2000), a not-so-fictional story of an engineered crash
of the Federal Reserve System, and the political upheaval it causes. www.crashmaker.com